So I woke up this morning feeling pretty bored with my hairstyle. I have been sporting a short ponytail-and-fringe combo for the past couple of months, when I realized life is too short to have the same hairstyle year in, year out ;D

After work my good friend and officemate Michelle and I went to TriNoma to look for something to wear on this coming Sunday's Family Day/ Employee Appreciation Day, went home empty-handed, but looking much, much different!

We went to several shops inside the mall but nothing really caught our fancy, so after a quick snack we just decided to pop into a salon. Life is too short to not want to spice things up a bit once in a while!

I love that my head feels sooo much lighter now, plus I think it looks chic on me. Fun fact: It was my first time to have my hair colored so you can just imagine how excited/ terrified I was! But after Pabs worked his magic I must say I'm very happy with the results. If you ever go to Bench Fix Lab in TriNoma, look for Pabs, he's awesome! And no, this is not a sponsored post ;) I like my new hairstyle a lot and I wish myself earlier hours of bedtime since I would be needing to wake extra-early the next day to blowdry and style it before I go to work. Short hairstyles require higher maintenance than long hairstyle do, y'know.

If you have been a reader of my blog long enough, you might remember the post I made back in January when I was still looking for a dress to wear to our Annual Party. Before finally coming up with my outfit, I had a hard time deciding because the all black-theme of the party disagreed with the color of the dress I wanted to wear initially, which was purple. I wanted to wear this dress at first. Just look how sexy it looks at the back. Pure glam, yes? Alas, it was not to be so I didn't buy the dress anymore. I ended up wearing a Black Swan-inspired outfit and I felt perfect. I still think of that dress sometimes though, and if only I have an occasion to wear it to anytime soon then I would gladly buy it.

The sexy purple dress is from Stylebreak, and now that they've released a new collection I am seriously thinking of breaking another self-imposed shopping ban yet again. Spearheaded by top fashion blogger Laureen Uy and Katrina Loring, Stylebreak specializes on clothes you don't normally see in malls and RTW shops. This is great news for people who don't want to wear the same clothes as everybody else ;)

Their newest collection is called Lines and Drapes composed of rouged dresses, draped skirts, sheer tops, and color-blocking skirts. Just take a look at these:

View the collection and the prices here.

You can order online, or you can also visit the Stylebreak branch nearest you. Mine is the one in The Ramp, TriNoma. Who knows, maybe I'll even bump into you when I go there to see these clothes personally ;)

I've always loved pretty little things, and because of that I have amassed a little fortune's worth of accessories already. Necklaces, bracelets, and earrings of differing styles and colors; name it, and I most probably have it hidden in one of the numerous trinket boxes I have also collected through the years.

Which is why you can just imagine how thrilled I was when I was invited to the launch of the newly-revamped SM accessories held last Wednesday in One Esplanade. Read about Ana's coverage of the event in Fashion Compass.

One of SM's special gifts to us were gift cards that we can spend in any way we want to at the Accessories section. This includes the Ladies', Men's, Teens' and Kids' Accessories.

Yesterday I went to SM Fairview with my good friend Michelle where we spent about an hour having fun with trying the different accessories on.

These are the stuff I got:

You may notice I bought a lot of headpieces. Well, I've decided I have way too many necklaces and bracelets already that I don't even use anymore (most of which I was able to sell at the recently concluded Bloggers United), so I decided to focus on my hair this time to distract people from the fact it's too thick and wavy ;D

I love that everything I got are so pretty, yet so affordable! With SM Accessories, it is possible to be chic without being thick (in the wallet department) *wink*

And because I love SM and I love you all for being so supportive of Fashion Compass, Ana and I are holding our first giveaway! Two winners will be chosen to win either a flower cuff or a pretty lavender headband, shown here:

It's so easy to join!

To everyone, thank you so much for all your kind words! They are very much appreciated! Here's to chasing dreams and pretty little things!

I guess we were always meant to do this.

About seven years ago, Ana and I met each other online. As two souls who share love for blogging, pretty thingamajigs, glossy fashion magazines and experiencing new things, it wasn't long before we became close friends (despite coming from the two far sides of the MRT). We would regularly meet for desserts, coffee or movies, and late last year we started getting invites from various companies for different bloggers' events.

We supported each other in our mutual not-so-secret biggest dream, which was to work in Summit Media - the Philippines' leading magazine publisher - where we both did internships for, albeit separately. In 2007, we graduated with degrees in media-related courses (Ana is a Journalism graduate from University of Sto. Tomas, while I am a Mass Communications graduate from Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila). Stepping out into the real world , we felt we were on top; pursuing our dreams of beating deadlines, being surrounded by magazines, and reaching out to people through writing seemed inevitable.

But then, fate had other plans. Ana established her own brand of accessories and became a full-time entrepreneur, while I got employed by the world's local bank as a financial service provider and has found satisfaction and fulfillment in my job despite having some serious shopping problems *sometimes*.

We never forgot our greatest dream though, so three years ago we tried to put up an online fashion magazine. We bought a domain, we assigned tasks, we were so hyped up! But then... nothing came out of it. We lost the hype, the tasks went undone, and the domain expired.

This time around, we are trying again, and this time we are going to make it.

So this is us following our dreams. This is us assuring our fourteen year-old selves that we are going to make her dreams of working in a magazine come true. This is us pursuing our passion for writing and for reaching out to people. This is us, trying to make a name for ourselves in the world wide web.

This is us, asking for your support in the same way you have supported our individual blogs.

We welcome you to Fashion Compass (where North meets South, and everywhere in between) - because in fashion, there are no wrong directions.

Today was a very tiring but fun and productive day for me. Mae, Ana and I went on a field trip to Marikina to visit Lucban Hats, maker of hats and fascinators that are also exported worldwide. Mae has asked me to go with her several times already, but since both of us have been busy we never found the time to do so. Good thing it was our rest day from work today so our schedules matched. As for Ana, she also loves hats so I figured she would be happy to go. I was right ;)

Also, I wanted to get something I can wear to Kym's wedding reception ♥

A little back-story. When my fabulous friends and I went to Lucban, Quezon for the Pahiyas festival just last month, my Lady Godiva-ish (haha) friend Dewi bought a couple of fascinators from Lucban Hats, only to be surprised that the warehouse is located near her house! (She lives in Marikina.) She cannot join us for this outing as she had work so I just decided to get something for her :)

We almost got lost because no one among us three have been there before, but thanks to kind souls who gave us directions, we reached our destination in no time :)

When we got inside, all it took was one look, and we were blown away! There were hats of all sizes, designs, and colors in every corner; it was hat heaven! I got too excited that I wasn't able to take a lot of photos, but here are some I was able to take:

Mae trying on a purple fascinator (that I ended up buying ;))

Here, the hats that I loved but didn't make the cut.

And here are the ones I bought:

My simple, everyday hat - buri hat with pretty ribbon

Pretty purple fascinator

My ostentatious hat made from molded sinamay and feathers

Navy blue fascinator I got for my friend Dewi :)

The best part about visiting the warehouse is getting the items at dirt-cheap prices! Would you believe I got all four for only P600? Plus, the shopkeepers there were very attentive and accommodating. Not once did they scowl at us for trying on almost everything there; they just looked very amused at how excited we were all through out, and answered all our questions about their products.

We left the comforts of our respective couches/ computer desks - I came from Navotas, Mae came from Quezon City, and Ana came from Alabang - to go to Marikina just to see and buy hats, and Lucban Hats did not disappoint. The two hours and more travel time to Marikina was definitely worth it. We'll certainly be back ♥

Told 'ya it was a tiring yet fun and productive day for me ;)

PS: This is not a sponsored post.